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HomePolicyWorld Bank's 139 Million Impoverished Nigerians Doesn't Reflect Local Realities: Official

World Bank’s 139 Million Impoverished Nigerians Doesn’t Reflect Local Realities: Official

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The Nigerian government has mounted a robust defence of its economic trajectory and social welfare commitments, following recent projections by the World Bank regarding poverty rates.

In a statement issued by presidential spokesman Sunday Dare, the administration firmly asserted that President Bola Tinubu was committed to inclusive growth and cautioned against interpreting global models as accurate, real-time indicators of Nigeria’s current reality.

The core of the administration’s position is a twin focus: addressing the fundamental structural distortions in the economy through necessary, albeit painful, reforms, while simultaneously rolling out targeted, verifiable interventions to cushion immediate economic hardship.

The government’s immediate response focused on contextualising the World Bank’s estimate that approximately 139 million Nigerians could be living in poverty. The presidential spokesman urged caution, stating the figure should not be taken as a “literal, real-time headcount”, but rather as an analytical construct derived from a specific global methodology.

The administration detailed the methodological flaw, arguing that the World Bank’s estimate relies on the international poverty line of $2.15 per person per day. This metric is calculated using 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms, which standardise purchasing power across countries but can distort local economic realities.

The statement noted a sharp disparity when converting this benchmark to current nominal figures, saying, “If converted nominally, that figure equals about $64.5 per month, or nearly ₦100,000 at today’s exchange rate—well above Nigeria’s new minimum wage of ₦70,000.”

This discrepancy, the Nigerian government argued, rendered the figure a “modelled global estimate”, detached from the country’s local income context. Furthermore, government officials contend that the PPP methodology often relies on historical consumption data (Nigeria’s last major survey was in 2018/19) and typically overlooks the informal and subsistence economies that provide sustenance for millions of Nigerian households.

For the Tinubu administration, the figure is less important than the trajectory, which, it claims, is now one of macroeconomic recovery and strategic, inclusive reform.

The Presidency acknowledged the immediate economic challenges facing citizens but framed the ongoing reforms as difficult but essential choices designed to tackle the root causes of poverty rather than merely treating the symptoms.

The two most significant and challenging reforms cited are the removal of the fuel subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate. These measures, the administration argues, were critical to correcting long-standing structural distortions that perpetuated poverty, including over-reliance on imports, deep regional inequalities, and productivity constraints.

The government maintains that even the World Bank itself has acknowledged that these reforms are already beginning to restore macroeconomic stability and lay the foundation for renewed, sustainable growth momentum.

While restating the necessity of reform, the Tinubu administration has detailed multiple interventions designed to mitigate the immediate impact on vulnerable citizens and ensure that economic growth translates into tangible welfare gains. The core of the administration’s short-term cushioning strategy is the expansion of direct transfers to the most vulnerable households.

The Presidency pointed out that its approach to social welfare is not merely a review but a strengthening and consolidation of the social investment architecture. By moving toward a unified, data-driven framework that integrates all welfare interventions, the administration aims to improve transparency, digital targeting, and overall accountability.

The government insisted that while the reforms are necessary and the economic direction is correct, the success will ultimately be measured by the visible, tangible improvements in citizens’ lives.

“Nigerians should begin to feel more visible improvements in food prices, income, and purchasing power as these programmes mature,” the statement said, reaffirming the administration’s belief that a foundation for a fairer and more prosperous Nigeria is being firmly laid.

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